


Help You Stand

by Chasyn



Series: Bungalow Blues [16]
Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Blankets are evil things, Break Ins, But it's more hinting, Canon - Movie, Cuddling, Except people live, Help You Stand by Anthem Lights, Hugging, Ida the Indominus Rex - Freeform, It's there in my head, M/M, Nightmares, Owen/Zach Hinting, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Simon and Zara live, Snuggling, Sort of song inspired, good brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 06:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12102981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasyn/pseuds/Chasyn
Summary: Gray has nightmares. Zach helps him fall back to sleep. Then Zach needs help sleeping.





	Help You Stand

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been updating some of my Walking Dead stories instead of working on my Jurassic World stories. XD It made me sad this morning when I realized I haven't written JW in over 2 whole weeks! 2 WHOLE WEEKS!? SERIOUSLY? So I looked in my notebook of ideas, picked this one out, and wrote it up real quick. In a couple weeks, I have a 3 day break from work. 8D That might turn into a 5 day break if boss can work it out. So by the end of the month, there should be updates! 8D So... here's some cute to tide you over! 8D
> 
> Oh. Editing real quick to add that the idea for this came while listening to this song. 8D
> 
> https://youtu.be/nthAYyQk9ZY

"ZACH! HELP!"

His eyes snap open and he bolts up in his bed. He's awake instantly. He scrambles out of his bed, tripping and getting caught up in his blanket. "Shit!" He lands hard on his side. Flailing and twisting, it takes forever before he wrestles his limbs free. He throws his blanket away and jumps up. His room is dark. Of course it is. He'd been sleeping. He stumbles through the door and stubs his toe. And curses again. The hall is dark, too. But he knows his way around in the dark. It isn't the first time and it won't be the last. He's sure of that.

The door is open, the room is dark. But his eyes have finally adjusted and he can just barely see. The curtains are open and a tiny bit of moonlight helps guides him. Gray is barely visible. Just a flailing mass of blankets on his bed. "Gray." Zach says his name softly as he rushes to his brother's bed. "Gray!" He stands over the bed a moment and grabs at a flailing limb. It's Gray's leg. He grabs again and gets Gray's other leg. The kid is completely twisted around. "Gray!" Zach presses the jerking limbs into the bed, holding them still. "Wake up, Gray."

The flailing lessens. It takes a few minutes. But he finally stops. "Zach..." His voice is soft, hesitant and afraid."I can't... I can't see..."

Zach smiles slowly. "Hold still." He lets go of Gray's legs and grabs the edges of the stuffy blanket. He alternates between pulling and lifting and he finally frees Gray. He discards the blanket on the floor. "Gray." He climbs on the bed and holds his arms out. "Come here."

Gray sniffles as he slowly sits up. He doesn't move right away. Zach leans forward and grabs his arm. He pulls his younger brother towards him and lays down. Gray lays his head on Zach's chest and closes his eyes. "Wanna talk about it?" Zach asks softly.

Gray swallows. He's silent for a long while. "We were on the island." Gray says after a few minutes. "We were in the gyrospheres, out in the valley. And it was empty. We were the only ones and we were in separate balls. And then you were suddenly gone and Ida shows up..." His voice starts to shake. "I wculdn't get out. The straps were stuck."

Zach breathes out and hugs Gray tighter against him. "You weren't alone." He says softly. "The straps weren't stuck. We got out. We got off the island. We're fine." Gray sniffs and nods his head. They lay like that for a while. Zach's not sure how long. But he can feel when Gray starts to sleep again. He slowly eases his brother off him and slides out from under the kid. He stands and turns back. He watches Gray for a few moments. The kid looks like he's sleeping peacefully.

Zach smiles and silently steps out into the hall. He glances at the closed door at the end and glares at it. They don't even try anymore. They don't wake up. They can sleep easily through Gray's screams. It doesn't happen every night anymore. Not like when they first came home. Zach would be woken up from his own nightmares by Gray's terrified screams. Their parents used to wake up then, too. But Gray would keep screaming and thrashing against them. He wouldn't settle down and wake up without Zach.

Now, they can just sleep through it. Zach doesn't understand that. He doesn't understand how they can ignore their own son. Maybe it's annoying. Maybe some days he's tired from being up half the night with either his own nightmares or his brother's or both. But the problem isn't going away just because they ignore it. And Zach is never going to ignore it.

Zach slips into his room silently. But he's shaking. For a moment, he thinks it's from anger directed at his parents. His hands are shaking as he makes his way towards his bed and his chest tightens. He can feel it coming on. He's moments from a panic attack. It happens some nights after Gray. He gets his brother calmed down enough to sleep and then all his own fears and nightmares starts feeling like they're pressing on his chest. Then his vision starts to blur and his legs start shaking and before he knows it, he's in a ball on the floor, feeling like he's dying.

Zach feels it coming on. He sits on the edge of his bed and reaches for his phone. His hands are shaking bad as he pulls the phone closer to his face. It's just after 2 am. It's really late, he knows. Or early. His fingers shake as he hits the buttons. It seems to take too long before he can press the phone to his ear. And then it rings. And Zach lifts his shaky hand to his mouth and chews on a nail.

The line picked up after one ring. "Zach?"

Zach swallows and closes his eyes. "Can't... breathe..." The words are strained, his voice barely a cracked whisper.

Some shuffling over the line follows. "You alone?"

"Yes." Zach chokes out.

"In your room?"

"Yes."

"Okay." There's more shuffling and a stifled yawn.

"Owen..."

"Shhh." His voice sounds like a purr over the line. "Just breathe for me, okay?"

Zach closes his eyes and lays down. He curls into a ball, holding the phone tight to his ear. He breathes in deeply and exhales it. He tries to concentrate on that. Breathing. He knows subconsciously that's what he needs to do. Breathe in and out slowly. Try to calm down. Nothing is wrong. He can still breathe fine. He knows it. But his brain can't seem to ever listen. Not until he hears Owen's voice.

The first time, Zach had been home alone, during the day. He had panicked and didn't know who else to call. Owen, Claire, Zara, Simon, and Barry followed the boys home. They holed up in the local hotel room, for a few weeks, trying to deal with the fact that they'd all nearly been eaten. When Owen arrived, he found Zach practically catatonic and unable to answer the door or phone. Owen had banged on the door and shouted his name. But no answer. Owen had tried every door and window on the house. And then noticed a partially opened window on the second floor. It took him only minutes to scale the tree near the house, climb onto the roof, and pull the window open. Zach had felt like he was suffocating and tried to open his bedroom window. From then on, Zach left his window opened an inch. Just in case.

"Gonna hang up now." Owen says after a bit. "Hard to climb and hold the phone."

Zach smiles as he pulls the phone from his ear. He drops it on the bed beside him. He keeps laying like that as he waits. He waits until he hears the soft, low creak of his window being pulled open and then shut again. And then there's a weight on his bed behind him. Owen says nothing as he reaches out and pulls Zach into his lap. He holds the young man against his chest and leans back, unconsciously mimicking what Zach had done with Gray barely a half hour before.

Zach grips the fabric of Owen's shirt and sighs against him. He feels better. Honestly, just hearing Owen's voice is enough to help keep his panic attacks at bay. But he's selfish. He wants Owen in his room, in his bed, holding him, murmuring soft words into his ears. "I'm sorry." He breathes out against the man's chest.

Owen smiles and hugs Zach tighter against him. "I don't mind." He says, his voice light.

Zach sniffs and ducks his head at bit, rubbing against Owen's chest lightly. "Wish I could deal with this alone." He mumbles. "On my own."

"You don't make Gray deal with it alone, do you?"

Zach shakes his head slightly.

"We all help each other deal." Owen says softly. "You help Gray, I help you, you help me. We all need each other to get through it."

"I help you?" Zach repeats softly.

Owen smiles and nods. "Holding you helps me." The man admits softly. "Having someone special to take care of... that helps keep my nightmares away."

Zach smiles. "When..." He starts to frame a question in his mind but a huge yawn grips him, stopping him.

Owen smiles and lays back on Zach's bed. He pulls the kid back with him, still keeping a tight grip. "Shhh. Go to sleep. Only got a few hours before your parents will be up."

Zach lets out a content sigh and closes his eyes.

Owen presses a kiss to Zach's head and eases up his grip a bit. He starts rubbing lazy circles against Zach's back. After a few minutes, he feels the kid fall asleep. A few minutes after that, Owen falls asleep as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't care if it's not that feasible. In my world, IT IS! YES! OWEN BREAKS INTO THEIR HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO SNUGGLE WITH ZACH! ALL THE TIME! He like... rents or bought a house or apartment down the street. DON'T THINK ABOUT MY LOGIC! JUST PRETEND IT WORKS!


End file.
